Danny ran around his room looking for his police badge and found it under the bed. It must have fallen under when he threw his shirt off the night before. He pinned it to his shirt and walked downstairs to wait for Stan to arrive. Lilith had already gone to school. She had worn the spectre deflector as Danny had asked, which he found out painfully when she kissed his cheek on her way out. He gulped down the rest of his coffee and sat in the living room waiting. Stan always picked him up in the police car. There was a knock on the door and Danny noticed that Stan was almost ten minutes early. He got up and opened the door, ready to go to work. Except it wasn't Stan at the door.
Danielle was standing on his doorstep. She was in her human form wearing her usual jeans and red hoodie. She looked exhausted and concerned. Danny was surprised at her sudden appearance. "Dani, are you alright? Did something happen?" He asked worried and motioned for her to come in and take a seat in the living room. She smiled tiredly at him. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just flew halfway across the Ghost Zone. By the way there's a natural portal in the park. Danny… have you been in the Ghost Zone recently?" Danielle answered. Danny scowled. "Not really no. I was there yesterday briefly, but only to return a ghost snake that attacked Casper High," Danny replied, confused. Danielle looked at Danny in shock. "A ghost snake attacked Casper High. Does it have a death wish?" Danielle remarked. She was well aware for Danny's threat. Danny shrugged.
"Why do you ask if I'd been in the Ghost Zone, Dani? Is something going on there that I should know about?" Danny prompted gently. Danielle nodded. "There's a ghost rampaging through the Ghost Zone. It's already attacked Walker's jail, Skulker's island and the Box Ghost. And that's only the attacks I know about. I was worried because this ghost sounds a lot like you. It even has a Ghostly Wail. It calls itself Dan Phantom," Danielle explained. The moment Danny heard Danielle say "Dan Phantom", he froze. He knew what that meant. Something he had hoped would never happen had happened. His mind was reeling. He had to get to Lilith and Sam. Sam had gone to the shops. He had to warn Jazz and Tucker. He needed to tell his parents and Valerie about Dan Phantom. He took a calming breath. He couldn't jump to conclusions. It mightn't be the Dan Phantom. He had to check first before taking action. He had to talk to Clockwork.
He jumped to his feet. "Dani, can you hold down the fort for me? I need to go into the Ghost Zone for a bit," Danny requested. Danielle looked at Danny confused. "Danny, what's wrong? You're as white as Walker. Do you know who this ghost is?" Danielle asked concerned. "I hope not. Look I'll explain later Dani. I need to check something first," Danny called back as he walked out the front door and glanced at the sky. It was sunny and warm. Perfect for flying. He transformed just as Stan pulled up outside. Stan got out and immediately knew something was up. "Danny is something up?" He asked. He had heard about the ghost attack at Casper High from his son, Andrew. Dany looked at Stan and shook his head. "Sorry Stan, I've got to take care of something. Thanks for covering for me yesterday but I need to go into the Ghost Zone. I'll try to be back later but I can't make any promises," Danny explained. He felt guilty for leaving Stan to pick up his mess again but this was too important to ignore. He flew off over the rooftops.
Danielle ran out of the front door and was about to fly after Danny when she spotted Stan. "Oh hey Stan," she murmured, she knew that Danny was way too far ahead of her now. "Hey Dani, what was that all about?" Stan asked completely perplexed. Danielle shrugged. "I was telling Danny about a ghost causing trouble in the Ghost Zone and he ran off before I could stop him," Danielle answered. Stan shifted uncomfortably. He really didn't want to go to work without his partner. The chief hadn't been happy about Danny leaving so suddenly without explaining the situation and that he didn't come back. Danielle noticed Stan's reluctance to leave. "Hey Stan… do you want me to cover for Danny until he gets back?" she offered. Danny had asked her to hold down the fort, whatever that meant. Maybe he wanted her to do his job for him. After all she was his clone and had most of his powers. She couldn't duplicate herself or use a Ghostly Wail but she had activated her ice powers.
She remembered how a couple years after Vlad had been banished that she had rushed to Danny's house. She had been so cold that she could no longer control her ghost powers properly. She wondered if it was because she was a clone and somehow she was becoming unstable again. Danny had smiled at her and offered to teach her how to control her new powers. It hadn't been pretty. He had had to break himself out ice on more than one occasion and dodge icicles fired at him instead of the targets. Tucker and Sam had offered to help but Danny had explained that it was better they didn't and Danielle had been grateful that they weren't there.
Stan smiled at her. "That would be great. The chief won't like Danny ditching his job again but if your there to stand in, he mightn't be so angry," Stan replied and Danielle got into the car with Stan. Together they drove off to the police station to explain what they could on Danny's behalf.
Sorry for stopping here but the chapter is getting a bit long. Well there's that and I love cliff-hnagers.
Anyway, until the next chapter.